Home is Where the Heart is
by WonderPickle
Summary: A few months after everything changed, Paige gets a call that Walter's been in an accident. And of course, she's immediately on her way. One-shot. Post series finale. Heavily mentioned Waige.


**for two and a half years, this show has been my everything. it gave me a home and hope when I needed it most. it gave me a refuge from my depression. it gave me the best hour of my week. it gave me inspiration and safety and a second family. it gave me the best love story I've ever had to privilege of seeing. it gave me my first internet friends. it gave me the passion for writing fanfiction and for writing itself. it gave me all the wonderful actors who I'll continue to love forever. and it gave me Happy Quinn, my heart and soul, who I've idolized since I met her. I love her dearly. I love her with my whole heart. I love her more than any fictional character. I'm so thankful for her.**

 **yesterday I was angry, but today I'm thankful for being apart of the cyclone and I'm thankful for this beautiful show. I'm thankful for every single review, favorite, follow, and read on every story I've ever posted. thank you to the cyclone for being the best fandom I've ever been apart of. the show may be over, but we still have each other. the show is over, but the story is not.**

 **I love this show. it will always, always have a place in my heart. I'm devastated by ended the way it did, but I'm happy now the characters are still ours. and we can decide how the story ends.**

 **this one-shot is pretty much Paige focused, which is weird, since she's my least favorite character. I'm still pissed at her for the finale. but, I write what the muse says to. and this happened. I know the ending is weird but I didn't want to end it any other way.**

 **thank you to everyone writing fics. I don't have it in me to really read any of them yet. but I will eventually. i know we all need them.**

* * *

Paige had been expecting a call from their latest client. She answered her phone with, "Hi, Paige Dineen of Centipede, how may I help you?"

But she didn't receive the calm, collected Russian accent of the businessman she'd been waiting for. Instead, what she got was a voice she recognized all too well. Frazzled and uncomfortable, frantic and desperate.

"Paige, it's Florence. Please-don't hang up the phone. It's urgent."

Paige immediately lost the sweet employee routine. She didn't bother swallowing her disgust. She scoffed into the phone. "I thought I blocked you. How did you get ahold of me?"

"I'm at the hospital. A wall phone." Florence was struggling to catch her breath. "Please, Paige. Please listen."

"Why should I?" she bit back. "I don't give a damn about what you have to say."

"For Walter's sake, you should."

"You don't need to speak on his behalf."

"No-Paige. It's...he's been admitted to the hospital."

Paige's heart dropped into her feet. She paled. "Why? What's wrong with Walter?"

"He's been in an accident. You're still his emergency contact, but he asked them not to reach you. I did because this is…" Florence cleared her throat. "Walter is...the outcome is not pleasant. Obviously, it's your choice, but I think it's best if you come. And perhaps...prepare a goodbye." Muffled voices yelled in the background. "I have to go. Room 206. ...Please."

* * *

There hadn't really been much of a choice. _Prepare a goodbye_. Paige's stomach was in knots. She thought she was going to throw up.

Her thoughts pulled her attention away from the road. Every few seconds, she had to refocus her eyes ahead of her, regripping the steering wheel. Ralph clearly noticed from the passenger seat, but he didn't say anything.

He hadn't said anything at all, actually. When Paige made the split second decision to drive over to the hospital, her first step was to alert Ralph. Just the sound of Walter's name gave him a reason to move out the door. His eagerness made something in her chest clenched like it hadn't in months.

She'd called Happy and Toby already. They were...on their way. Hopefully. An argument immediately sparked on the other side of the phone. Paige hung up before she could catch more than a few swear words from Happy. But she knew them. She knew they'd come.

But Sylvester...was another story. She didn't tell him. There was nothing to say. The woman who broke your heart will be there with the man who stole her from you? Hell no. Sly was just starting to heal.

Paige could handle it. Sly couldn't. And he didn't deserve the heartache, anyway. She refused to put him through that.

She turned left. Now they were pulling into the hospital parking lot. The same hospital she realized Sylvester and the team were family in, the same hospital Megan died in, the same hospital she kissed Walter in. Every one of those times, and every other time, they always had each other to fall back on. The team was a safety net, braids of reassurance and what once was stability woven between the hard times.

Paige's eyes began to sting.

But then she remembered this was also the hospital they spent Christmas night in after Walter's accident. The one when Flo saved him. When he had the damn dream that got this whole thing started.

Ralph looked away from the window to peek an eye at her.

"We're here," was all she said.

* * *

Paige found herself moving faster than she would've expected. Ralph speed walked to stay in pace with her. They found the nurse's station easily, all too familiar with the way. A woman in blue scrubs behind the desk directed them down the hall. Paige gave a quick thank you before she and Ralph ran off.

Now he followed a step slower than her. When they saw who was pacing outside Walter's door, she came to an abrupt stop and Ralph almost collided with her back. "Sorry, baby," she murmured.

Florence looked up, eyes hollow. Her face expanded into some sort of weird relief and Paige couldn't tell why. "Paige," she said. She stopped pacing.

Paige held up a hand to cut her off. Her feet found their way again, striding past Florence. "Save it. I'm not here for you."

Florence nodded. She ran her tongue over her lips, staring at her sneakers. Then she seemed to notice Ralph. Her face lit up like a broken light, hesitantly flickering and trying to stay bright. "Hi, Ralph," she greeted meekly.

"Hi, Flo."

Paige grabbed her son and guided him to the room, making sure he was in front of her so she could provide a barrier between him and Florence. "This is not what we came here for."

"Right," Florence stammered. "Of course."

She padded lightly behind them. But after only a few steps, Paige whipped back around. "I know you're his girlfriend and you feel the need to be around him all the time and whatever, but could you give us a minute?"

She turned several shades darker. She froze, and Paige could've sworn she stopped breathing. "I'm sorry."

Paige unnecessarily huffed. "Good."

Florence opened her mouth, then closed it. But she reopened her lips not a second later, eyes darting between Paige and Ralph hesitantly. "And Paige?"

" _What_?"

"I'm not his girlfriend."

With that, she turned and left the room.

Paige stared after her with a feeling she couldn't recognize. Her gaze followed Florence until she couldn't see her anymore, but she still watched the hallway where the footsteps had been.

Ralph tugged on her hand, stealing her attention. "Walter!'

Paige moved away from the doorway and followed him.

Walter was asleep in the hospital bed. Just the sight of him broke her heart into pieces and burned them to ashes. But the sight of him injured was worse. A bandage was wrapped around his head, but dried blood peeked out from underneath. He had scratches and bruises and cuts all over his skin. He looked awful. Whatever happened was something bad. His chest was hooked up to a heart monitor, and she was no doctor, but she knew the pulse was weak. Paige choked down something mixed between a grunt and a sob.

Walter barely looked like he was moving.

Ralph walked towards the bed slowly, shoes tapping against the tile floor. She broke for him having to see Walter this way and suddenly wished she hadn't brought him at all. Ralph's gaze was completely infatuated with Walter. His eyes became glued. He whispered Walter's name brokenly, like shattered fragments of stained glass trying to create what once was.

Paige put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. He didn't react to her at all.

"Is he okay?" Ralph asked softly.

Even though they both knew the answer, Paige swallowed it. But she didn't want to lie, either. "We have to see, baby."

Ralph still loved Walter. This wasn't like last year, when Walter fired her and Ralph recognized that it was his fault. No. For some reason, Ralph couldn't see things the way Paige did. He didn't see the lies and the cheating and the deception. All he saw was _Walter_. He saw a different shade of white in the lies. He saw truth where she didn't. She wasn't sure how.

Heavy footsteps echoed behind them. Both Ralph and Paige turned.

Cabe stode into the room with bags under his eyes and a sizzling cup of coffee. When his gaze found them, he froze. "Oh, hell. I really need some shut eye, cause now I'm seeing things."

"No," Paige said, softer than she meant it, "we're here, Cabe."

Ralph ran in for a hug before Cabe had time to process. But Cabe immediately smiled, laughing as he ruffled Ralph's hair. He put the coffee down so both arms were free. "Hey, kid. It's good to see you."

"I missed you," Ralph whispered. It was loud enough for Paige to hear. She swallowed.

But she shook it off and gestured to Walter. "Cabe, what the hell happened?"

The fondness melted like sinking ice caps in his ocean blue eyes. He gave Ralph another squeeze and frowned at Paige. He looked tired. And he looked old, older than Paige had ever seen him. He looked like someone who hadn't slept for years. "I don't think you wanna know."

Paige licked her lips. She glanced at her son. "Ralph, go wash your hands."

Ralph peeled away from Cabe. "Why? I should hear-"

"We're in a _hospital_ full of sick people. You don't know what's on your hands. You could spread germs to Walter. And that's the last thing he needs right now." She sternly raised her chin. "I'll do it when I'm done talking to Cabe."

"Mom-"

" _Go_."

Ralph scowled. He went, but he huffed.

Paige turned all attention to Cabe the second Ralph walked out of the room.

Cabe sighed. Paige could tell he had the weight of the world resting on his back and instantly felt guilty. This was too much for him to deal with. And it was too much for him to deal with alone. He had Allie, but her shoulders weren't big enough for the both of them right now.

"A business deal gone wrong," Cabe said.

Paige's eyebrows shot up. She almost made a comment about what Scorpion had become. "A _client_ did this?"

"Guy was a jerk. He hired us cause his bank account was out of whack," Cabe started. The frown on his face visibly stripped his soul down to a _tired_ man. Just exhausted. He looked down. "The whole thing was sketchy from the beginning. But Walt didn't want to let this one go. He claimed it'd be an easy job anyway and we didn't need to come with. So we didn't. But when he did a little digging into the account, he found millions in stolen cash. He confronted our employer without asking me first…and then he got his head bashed in."

Paige swallowed. "Oh my god."

"He took off, but the cops caught him. And lucky for us, I found Walt before the situation got worse."

 _You sure Florence wasn't the one who found him?_ Paige thought bitterly.

Cabe shook his head and rubbed tiredly at his eyes with calloused hands. When he blinked at her, he seemed confused, brow furrowed and shoulders tense. He looked like he was talking to a ghost. "Paige...what are you doing here?"

Paige cleared her throat. "Flo- _Florence_ called me. She said there'd been an accident and we should prepare our goodbyes."

Cabe reunited with his coffee cup again, taking a long sip as Paige finished. It didn't help the fatigue he wore like this season's newest trend. "She might have over exaggerated that a bit. I think Walt will be okay. I mean, there'll be some serious repercussions, but the doc said he's gonna pull through."

A sigh of relief pulsed in Paige's bloodstream. She inhaled deeply to recollect herself.

Cabe took a seat in the chair closest to the bed. His gaze lingered on Walter. Paige's followed, hovering over the bandage across his forehead. She remembered that night in the hospital room, kissing his soft skin and reminding him how much she loved him. It was so easy then. It seemed complicated at the time, but it was so easy. They were in love. That was the only thing that mattered. At the end of the day, even after arguing over holiday plans, everything worked out. Because they loved each other enough to make it work.

Paige bit into her gum.

This was different. From the minute she and Ralph walked in, it was different. It was different because she convinced herself she wasn't in love anymore.

This was different. It wasn't like seeing Drew again years after he left. And it wasn't like Tim accidentally calling her a month after their break up and both of them having to make polite small talk until she found an appropriate excuse to hang up.

It was more like finding the sun after being stuck in the dark for so long.

This was definitely different.

Paige tore her gaze away from Walter. She took the seat on Cabe's left, farthest from the bed.

Ralph should've been back by now. She had a feeling he was talking to Florence. Somehow, though, she couldn't find it in herself even be angry.

"Why did Florence over exaggerate, Cabe?" she asked.

He yawned. "Probably because she knew she couldn't get you here otherwise."  
"And why the hell would she want us here?"

"Because Walt's dying."

Paige whipped her head at him. "What?" she barked. "You just said-"

"He's not that kind of dying," Cabe replied. "The Walt you knew is dying. He's reverting."

She sunk back in her seat, cheeks flushing. She tried to cover herself. "Then he and Flo will be perfectly compatible." But there wasn't as much bitterness as she hoped.

"Actually, Flo has a girlfriend."

"She...what?"

"She never made a move on Walt. Not even after you left him. And she...found someone else." Cabe wouldn't look at her. He leaned his head against the wall behind them. " _Good things come to those who wait_."

Paige stared down at her thumbs. She choked on everything she wanted to say and she choked on everything she couldn't say. Her breath hitched. She moved her eyes up to Walter and it broke her heart all over again. She chewed on her lip. "Did he ask her out? Did he... _does_ he love her?"

"Kid," Cabe said, "he loved you the day you walked into his life and he loved you the day you walked out. He still loves you now. And that's never gonna change."

Tears pressed against her eyes. _I still love him, too. I'll always love him._

 _Always._


End file.
